õBetween Light and Darknessõ
by Arcane Valhalla
Summary: Rune-Midgard has changed into a corrupted state. Assassins start to rebel against the church and the government. Who are the real bad guys? This story revolves around a Priestess searching for her twin brother with only her rare Ifrit ring as a clue
1. Chapter 1: Flashback

Author's Note: Okay. This is my first Fanfic to be submitted online so please read and review I would really appreciate it

** ӪBetween Light and Darknessԅ**

_**Chapter 1: Flashback**_

"My brother...Where could he be?" The young girl who sat under the sakura tree began to wonder. She had long white hair that elegantly swayed and she had firey red eyes. Not common among those who live in Rune-Midgard. Her eyes blankly stared into space, thinking about what her parents..erm..foster parents told her yesterday.

"Umm...Arcane, dear...Can we talk to you for a while? It's really important." Her mom worriedly said who sat next to her dad. She had sad eyes as she stared the 15 year old girl approaching them happily. An innocent smile.

"What's up?" the white-haired girl asked with a smile as her red eyes stared at her parents. Both the adults looked at each other for a second and sighed.

"We have to tell her..."

"Tell me what?" Arcane asked worriedly and sensed the heavy aura that filled the room. She finally knew that something was wrong. Her smile turned into a frown.

"..."

Arcane's father took a deep breath and finally said "Arcane..We aren't your real parents. You're adopted. But that doesn't change the fact that we still are your parents. So---"

"I knew it..." Arcane blurted out as tears started fall down from her face. Her hands clenched and her hands facing down the floor. She could see her tears darkening the wooden floor as it drops.Even though she was loved by her foster parents, she's still hurt by the fact that she was left by her real parents. Her real parents entrusted thier child with a bunch of strangers. "I knew it...No wonder my eye and hair color doesn't match the both of you...no wonder.." Arcane stood silent, still crying. Her bangs covered her eyes. Her foster parents were saddened by this event but they had no choice. They had to tell her somehow or else Arcane would've discovered it herself which is more painful.

"Where..Where are my real parents then?" Arcane sadly asked. Her crying stopped and lifted her head up, facing her mom and dad.

"..."

Silence.

"WELL?!" Arcane's voiced raised a bit. A slight tone of anger can be distinguished.

"I'm sorry but--"

"They're dead..."

"..."

"Just look at her, dude!"

"Wa--?" Arcane's flashback about what happened yesterday was snapped out upon hearing a loud voice.. She realized that she almost fell asleep, slouching against the tree. The wind blew her skirt up 3 minutes ago while she was daydreaming and she hardly even notices it. A group of guys were there, staring at her black panties. It had cute laces on top and a white ribbon on the side. The other guy gleamed at Arcane with a sinister look while his buddies laughed at how embarrasing this is if the girl knew she was on "Exhibit". The other people stopped by to see but continued on with their own bussiness while the others...they had a little fun looking at the sleeping girl with her panties showing. Arcane blushed as red as a tomato and hurriedly fixed her skirt and hid behind the tree. It's not always good to wear a Priestess uniform, she thought. The guys that enjoyed her public display giggled and laughed as they looked at Arcane, who is by the way, feeling smaller by the second.

"Stupid, stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid stupid!" Arcane chanted to herself, still blushing. She was a little angry at herself, slapping herself in the cheeks as she repeatedly said "stupid" That mistake won't EVER happen again, she thought. She slapped herself once more and tried to forget that it ever happened.


	2. Chapter 2: Tied Fates

**Chapter 2: Tied Fates**

Arcane scanned the surroundings and sighed. She was at the amatsu bar taking a rest. Sitting alone was kinda boring for her, and the funny looks that some of the people gave her didn't help forgetting the most embarrasing moment of her life. She tried to avoid any eye contact and drank her red wine that was just teensy bit too strong for her to handle. Her throat burned with every sip and she liked the way it feels when it passed by her throat. Her mission is due on friday which is about writing a written report about the Miyabi doll's past. She has like 3 more days to prepare it and used this day to relax for a while. She glanced through the table and saw the drinks of the other people. She never tasted beer or anything like that. She only stuck to wine which was the only alcohol-contained drink permitted to be drank by the Priest class. "Maybe I should take a sip of something other than wine", she thought. "but that would be disobeying the rules of my kind. I musn't." She changed her mind.

Her eyes went back to where it was before which was her glass of wine. Next she moved on to the ring that was worn on her hand. It had a red gemstone on it that sparkled everytime it was dirently hit by the sun. Arcane never knew what the ring was for but her foster parents said that her brother has the same ring as hers. She sensed something magical about the ring but was never curious enough to look it up.

"You alone?" a man's voice spoke. It was a knight. A handsome one too. He had short blonde hair. He had eyes that could sooth you as you look at them. He had a smile that could cheer you up and an aura that can relieve your stress. Sounds like mister perfect? Well, you'll be the judge.

"Uhh..yeah" Arcane replied, blushing lightly. She secretely stared at the man's face and blushed more. Her heart was beating a little faster. The young knight pulled a chair and sat beside Arcane, still smiling. Arcane looked away, hiding her reddish face from the handsome knight. "Okay, Arcane. Calm down. Don't do anything stupid,okay?" She said to herself. She took a deep breath and sighed. "Something wrong?" The Knight asked.Wow. Didn't expect him to show a little concern. "Uhh yeah I'm okay" Arcane let out a forced smile as she replied. "The names Van. Van Thanatos." He introduced with a smile.

"You?"

"Arcane." She smiled back after taking a sip on her glass of wine.

"Nice panties by the way." He muttered making Arcane spurt out the wine she had drank. She blushed red again as she saw the Knight slightly giggling at her.

"Hey! That's not very nice." Arcane shyly said with her arms crossed.

"Sorry Sorry..." Van apologized, still giggling.

"Hmp!" Arcane's angered face turned into a smile as he saw the Knight giggling with his eyes closed. "I wonder if he could be my brother." She thought. "I wonder if my brother's personality is just like his? or is my brother the type who would care for me instead of teasing me all time? I wonder if.."

"...just like that..."

"Eh?" Arcane spaced out approximately 44 seconds and missed out what Van said. "Sorry, but I didn't get that." Arcane said.

He looked at Arcane's ring and took out his hand and placed it beside hers. "See? I have the same ring as yours. Except that mine is color blue and yours is re--"

"YOU'RE MY BROTHER!?!?!?" Arcane exclaimed as she slammed the table with her hands. Everyone in the bar were stunned by Arcane's sudden outburst. All of them stared at her, including Van. It was quiet.

Arcane slowly sat down and gave out a forced laugh. Another embarrasing moment for Arcane. Then after, the people went on with their bussiness. Some still stared at her, but only for a while.

"S-sorry..about that." Arcane shyly apologized as she was sinking in her seat,avoiding Van's tantalizing eyes. Van smiled and stood up,saying "I suggest we talk about this "YOU'RE MY BROTHER" bussiness somewhere else."

"Ehehehehe...Y-yeah." Arcane agreed as she followed Van towards the exit. He opened the door for Arcane and they left the rather not-so noisy bar of Amatsu.


	3. Chapter 3:Fork Road

**Chapter 3: A Fork Road**

An assassin cross, who was silently leaning against the wall, opposite the door of the bar, watched the Knight and the priestess leave. He grunted as he went into the back room. The noise from the other room decreased as he entered the room slammed the door.

"What's wrong , Scythe? Want me to do a little something for ya" a rather seducing voice spoke. It was a dancer. She sat at the couch with her legs crossed, grining seductively at the assassin cross. She wore a see-through bra and a very sexy thong, that would tickle any man's deepest desires. The assassin stared at her for a while and let out a sigh.

"I told you to stop calling me by my real name, Leila." he calmly said as he slowly sat next to her. "Let me rest for a bit, okay?"

"Awwww..." Leila pouted, moving her body closer to his. Pressing her chest against his arms and wrapping her arms around it. "But I'm bored Can I at least do something to you while you're resting?" The assassin's eyes closed and didn't even bother to answer the tempting question of the dancer. After a few seconds, he was asleep and Leila let out a smile as she watched him dozed off like that. She was lucky to see this part of her boyfriend's side. He's usually cold and rude to people. He's also a part of the rebellion and Guild Master of the secret guild known as the Venom guild. He is the number one enemy of the church and the government. He killed countless of people just for the sake of money and to survive. That's how he got his reputaion among the southern part of Rune-midgard. Along with the cities of Morroc, Scythe Valhalla a.k.a Scar , has become a hero for them but for Prontera,Izlude and the rest, they see him as an idiot who thinks that his ways are better than thiers. How lucky for Leila to see his Blood-thirsty bad boy is sound asleep. No one knows about his identity yet. It pays to have a fake name and change hairstyle from time-to-time. Scythe trusts Leila so much. Same goes for Leila. No matter how many lives he has taken, Leila will still love him until the end.

"So in other words, you and your brother were given the same rings before you were seperated and you're trying to find your brother by looking for the person that has the same ring as yours..."

"Which is you!"

"No-no, I'm not your brother. I bought this ring from a theif 5 years ago..Oh wait..I think It was 6 years ago." Van explained, trying to clear up the misunderstanding.

"Oh..I see..."

Arcane's face saddened. Her eyes were waterey, but she wouldn't dare cry in front of a stranger. Only her parents saw her cry..only them. Only those close to Arcane's heart can see her cry. She blinked once and tried to smile. It was written all over her face that she was disappointed. Van pitied her expression and eyes. It made him sad to see her like that. He rarely gets attached to people but he knew that Arcane was different from the beggining. He sighed and raised his hand. "If it makes you feel any better, I can be your temporary brother until you find your real one, okay? Don't you cry now." He cheerfully said as he patted Arcane's head and messed up her hair.

Arcane's mood recovered and stuck her tongue out. "Bleh! I won't cry! No way! I'm pretty stronger than that you know.!"

Van smiled as he stared at Arcane's happy face. He took his time looking at the young priestess. He felt so relaxed whenever he sees Arcane's cheerful expression. It reminded him of someone...It reminded him of..

"Shurelia..."


	4. Chapter 4:Izlude Massasscre

**Chapter 4: The Izlude Massasscre **

"Van!!!" the little swordswoman called as she ran towards the other swordsman. The girl stopped in front of him and paused for a moment, trying to catch her breath.

"Hey, Shurelia. I told you to wait at the guild." Van coldly said with his arms crossed.

"You're not the boss of me! Beh!" The girl said as she stuck her tongue out. "I wanna see you graduate into a Knight!"

"Go home now before it gets dark. The streets aren't safe when it's night, you know."

"I know! I Know! I'm a big girl! I don't need you to remind me about those stuffs." Shurelia annoyingly replied, looking away from Van. A slight blush covered her face.

"I don't want you to get hurt and you know that right?" Van sweetly said as he patted her head,messing her hair a bit. The girl blushed more and stepped backwards.

"Yeah. Yeah whatever." she said with annoyance. "I wish we could graduate together..." she mumbled.

"Huh? What did you say?"

"N-nothing." Shurelia shyly said, covering what she said a while ago. She was the type of girl who won't admit what she really feels. Van was always there for her ever since she was a novice and her feelings towards him grew for the past years. These two were bestfriends from the beginning and they were inseperable. Van's caring personality compliments Shurelia's reckless trait.They are even room mates in the guild that cost their fellow guildmates to tease them that they were doing "it" at night.They fight once in a while but always manage to fix what went wrong. That's how close they were but neither of them wanted to make the first move or confess their feelings.

Shurelia waited patiently at her room. She took a 30 minute walk from Prontera to Izlude after Van telling her to go back. She sat on a wooden chair,her face and hands over the table. She stared blankly at the window which gave a good view of the city. It was dark outside and not a single star appeared in the sky, indicating that it will rain soon. "I should've brought an umbrella for Van." she thought. Her eyes started to get heavy and her eyelids slowly closed. She eventually fell asleep..

Crash!! A loud noise has woken up the sleeping Shurelia. She immiedietly stood up, looking outside the window. She heard a loud thunder which crashed below the ground. There was a fight at the center of the city! There were a lot of people at the center. Some were injured and being healed by priests and acolytes. Some were fleeing, avoiding any part of the fight. A wizard casted ice wall around the injured and the helpless civilians, protecting them from any attacks. Eventually, a single slit on the throat killed the wizard. It was an assassin. He looked like the leader of the attackers. Shurelia knew that this was serious. She needed to get out of there right away. She needed to flee. But where? Will she just stay put and hide under the bed until they leave? That seems like a good idea but her mind changed just like that as she saw some assassins holding up torches. They began to throw them at the houses, each one of them. "What in the world are they doing?" she spoke aloud. Her eyes, full of terror, widened as she saw the people below being killed one by one. "This is...This is.."

"What?" a deep voice spoke. "This is what? Tell me miss."

Shurelia gasped as she turned around to see who it was. It was the assassin, who had white hair, that looked liked the leader of the group

"You're.."

In a single second, the assassin moved across the room, beside Shurelia's stiffened body.

"Don't judge us.This is nothing compared to what your leaders are doing to us right now."

Shurelia was stunned. She didn't say a word. She wanted to cry for help but no tears went out. She turned and faced the assassin. She had miserable-looking eyes, thinking how sad will Van be knowing that the next news he'll hear is that she's dead. Thinking that she won't have a chance to live anymore. Thinking that she died a horrible death, in the hands of some blood-thristy rebels. She thought about the memories that she had. "Everything is over" she thought.

"Choose."

Shurelia's eyes widened. "What?"

The assassin glared at the terrified young swordswoman and began to open his mouth "If you want to live, you can join us who continue fight for our freedom.Choose otherwise, and you'll never get to live another minute."

Shurelia stared at the assassin's sharp eyes. He was full of determination. He was someone you can trust but someone you wouldn't want to become enemies with. She thought for a second. A tear drop fell on her face.

"I'm sorry Van..I'm really sorry..."


End file.
